Shalom

I have longed for thy salvation, O L-RD; and thy Torah is my delight. Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgments help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments. Psalm 119:174-176

In June; the 12 Tribes began a PR campaign in June to help sway public opinion in their favor. Some of this has included inviting people to community meetings and discussing their faith andparenting methods. You can find some snippets about that from Augsburg TV, here.

A Year after the Police Raid, the Twelve Tribes go on the offensive.

I've been busy trying to catch some of the more recent news that was airing on television that I missed the following story from August 4th. RTL's program "Undercover Deutschland" covered the Twelve Tribes again, which was discussed on MyHeimat.de

There was a press conference on the first of August in Klosterzimmern held by the members of the Twelve Tribes community and their lawyer. They have begun proceedings against RTL reporter Wolfram Kuhnigk again. They are alleging that the secret camera recordings that have since been published by Herr Kuhnigk on RTL were recorded much earlier than declared and have been heavily edited...Die Gemeinschaft '12 Stämme' zeigt den Enthüllungs-Reporter an

The Donauwörther lawyer, Michael Langhans, has issued a dispute over the veracity of the claims RTL reporter Wolfram Kuhnigk has made. He criticized a decision of the District Court in relation to the ublication of the documents [made available by RTL and Wolfram Kuhnigk]... At the end of the press release, Langhans announced that out of respect for thecourt, he would not independently publish the documents in question, but he believes he has the rights to do so..Zwölf Stämme: Rechtsanwalt kritisiert das Amtsgericht

There was a press release made by the Twelve Tribes Lawyer Michael Langhans which can be found here.

The members of the Twelve Tribes do not give up easily. They announced a press conference to try and make a complaint against the reporter. However, this has not been well received...... Many are asking, "How do parents who spank their children in the name of faith tick...?"„Zwölf Stämme“ Die Babyschläger-Sekte!

The courts let it slip that the cost of housing the children has become quite high and they're scrambling to figure out where the funds will come from.

On September the 4th, The Twelve Tribes announced protests on the following dates and times; Friday the 5th of September at 10am to 8pm, on Saturday the 6th of September at the same time frame and would be holding them at theKönigsplatz in Augsburg. These were relatively quite affairs, though some of the individuals here in Germany working against the group did manage to show up at these protests and at the town hall meetings they held in Gasthaus Krone in Öttingen, of which, they invited the whole community to.

On September 5th, the anniversary date of the raid, Bayrisches Rundfunk published a chronology of the escalation against the sect. BR also released a 24 second video reminding people it has been one year since the raid on the 12 Tribes, and some images from the demonstration. Groups working against the Twelve Tribes also began sharing information from Sekten Info NRW. A new Facebook page was also formed, sharing information in English and German about last year's raid. This page has also been visited by some supporters of the Twelve Tribes, arguing that no abuse has taken place and that beating your children is absolutely commanded by Scripture and must be obeyed, despite the protest of the page owners.In the same week, several articles were released on Deutsche Welle discussing UNICEF's "Hidden in Plain Sight" paper about child abuse:

In its "Hidden in Plain Sight" report, UNICEF reveals the extent to which children the world over are suffering at the hands of adults. Often their own parents.

The most common form of abuse is violent discipline, with six out of ten children aged between two and 14 (almost a billion) regularly falling victim to physical punishment, thereport said.

...Between 2000 and 2010, around 8.6 percent of German children and young people were living in poverty. In 2012, child care services took in more than 40,000 children because their parents were overwhelmed. "If a country strengthens the rights of the child, it strengthens its future," said Jürgen Heraeus, Chairman of UNICEF Germany. There's a need for better functioning help networks, he added....UNICEF: Governments must do more to protect the rights of children

On September 20th, the Fränkische Landeszeitung and the Süddeutsches Zeitung posted stories about the Twelve Tribes in the paper. I was unable to get a copy due to a situation with our car breaking down, but someone was kind enough to scan in the newspaper articles and send it to me. If you cannot read German, don't worry too much, most of what is covered in these articles are also covered in snippets of news stories below it. I have posted these in the original size so that they are legible for our German-language readers.

Radio 8 and RT1 also had some news articles on their site, but those have somehow gone missing since. Thankfully, I had done a screen capture.

"The Twelve Tribes invite the community to another meeting in Wildbad in Wemding at 7pm..."

On last Friday, the first main proceedings against the Twelve Tribes began in Ansbach. The first hearing was about the custody of a two and a half year-old child. The court heard whether the parents custody should be withdrawn. A settlement proposal is currently on the table arguing for the return of parental custody. If this is allowed, it may set a precedence for the other cases yet to be heard.However, the decision was that the parents were to regain some parental custody rights while the Jugendamt held others...September 27: Zwölf Stämme: Löst ein Vergleich den Sorgerechtsstreit?

Since mid- September, the District Court in Ansbach has been deciding whether a total of three pairs of parents will have permanent withdrawal of parental custody. This case concerns five children aged two and a half to six years of age. They were removed "temporarily" from parental care about a year ago...October 1, 2014: Weitere Anhörungen im SorgerechtsstreitSekten-Eltern vor Gericht vernommen

I was going to quote two SWR articles here, but it seems to have been removed from the archive. Thankfully I had a screen capture of it, which is posted here below with the original link below it.

40 children's fate are being decided by district courts between October and December 2014

The custody hearings
about the Twelve Tribes in Klosterzimmern are to begin in October. There
are 5 hearings already set that will cover two to three families at a
time. This is concerning the children who were removed from parental care in a raid last year.

On Tuesday, the principle proceedings commenced in a custody battle for the children of the Twelve Tribes...A psychological evaluation should be heard on the opinion of whether the parents are capable of raising their children. So far, the parents have refused to participate in a family psychological assessment. The basis of the opinion to be heard will decide on whether the children are allowed back...October 7: Sorgerechtsstreit in Nördlingen - Zwölf Stämme-Eltern vor Gericht

...The parents and their attorney, Michael Langhans from Donauwörth are arguing that it is not the parenting abilities of the parents that is crucial, but the children's welfare.The lawyer admits that hitting children is, in principle, unlawful and is considered "bodily harm", but is not an automatic justification to remove children into foster care. The lawyer and parents invoke the right of religious freedom in that punishment with the rod is prescribed in the Bible...Zwölf Stämme-Eltern: Züchtigung mit Ruten in Bibel vorgeschrieben

Also, the city of Augsburg is cleaning up the city center, much to the chagrin of the Twelve Tribes:

In order to curb excesses... A message that eminates from the Town Hall to the outside is clear: Not all wishes are going to be waved through. The city wants to take a stronger stance on what is allowed to take place in the city center... First, there was a large Persil truck for several days, sitting rather out of place at the Martin-Luther-Platz, while members of the controversial faith Twelve Tribes Community danced and sang at lunchtime on the Königsplatz. In both cases, permits were given by the municipality. In the meantime, members of the city have long been unhappy...Neues Konzept: Was wird aus der Augsburger City?

As discussed in post 18, Robert Pleyer has recently published a book titled, "Der Satan schläft nie: Mein Leben bei den Zwölf Stämmen" [The Devil Never Sleeps: My life in The Twelve Tribes]. He has been present in several newspaper television interviews in the last month and a half. Aktiv Gegen Kinderarbeithas begun promoting Mr. Pleyer's book.

News was released that Robert Pleyer was
to be interviewed on October 1st at 6pm on BR: Abendshau and on Monday
the 6th of October at 5:30 on Sat1: Frühstücksfernsehen.

In the book, it says "The foundation of the Twelve Tribes is its children. In the hierarchy, they are at the very bottom of the totem pole. Their feelings, opinions and desires are suppressed by adults until their will is broken. The children have no rights to physical and mental integrity in the cult. "In order to break their will, they are beaten regularly and long with willow branches. They do this to make them mentally and emotionally unfit to decide what happens in their own lives. This begins at very tender ages..."Sekten-Aussteiger: Die Kinder mussten in einer Schlange auf ihre Prügel warten

..."The opposite is the case," Plyer says in an interview with the news magazine Focus. "Currently, they feel persecuted by the evil state. This persecution complex holds the group together." Every day life was difficult for the Twelve Tribes because some members have been asking awkward questions. Now they have enemies again -- the government, journalists and me..."Sekten: Zwölf-Stämme-Aussteiger schildert hartes Leben der Kinder - "Der Satan schläft nie"

...The book is likely to show the faith community in a new light. Robert Pleyer joined in his early twenties. He abandoned his studies and jumped in with both feet. First, he worked in the fields and in the bakeries; later he was appointed as a teacher. He married the daughter of a tribe elder and the couple had four children...Robert Pleyer veröffentlicht Buch über sein Leben bei den Zwölf Stämmen

..."The discipline of children is a very important issue to the Twelve Tribes," he says. "Early in the morning, during lectures, the parents are informed by the elders that punishment is good for the children. The spankings are not aggressively administers but are simply a part of the system." Robert Pleyer describes it this way; "A child does not simply put a cup away. The parents will ask 'Have you been obedient?' if the child says 'no', he or she is to bend over and be spanked. It hurts terribly bad to be hit with the rod. The child then apologizes, is hugged and all is well again..."Er konnte keine Kinder mehr schlagen

I've just been informed that Robert Pleyer will appear again on RTL's "Guten Morgen Deutschland!" this Friday at 6:20 and 7:20AM. I will attempt to record it and also link it up here if I find it on the internet.

Of interest to the public is the following article from 2013 about the Swiss gentleman who is helping the Twelve Tribes. There is nothing Mr. Rovetto would like more than for this to disappear. Sorry bud, this is being shared again.

...Agrippino Rovetto (46) from Rafz ZH, himself a father of four sons, defended the controversial sect - and the spankings they give their children in the name of God. At a vigil for the children of the Twelve Tribes in Nördlingen, he cried out "A child has a right to a loving chastisment!" and "He who loves his child, chastens him!" and the police had to intervene... Not only in the internet does Mr. Rovetto offer support to the cult members, he has also housed a family of the Twelve Tribes with him in Rafz. A transport that is used by one of their companies has been parked for extended periods outside of his house...Dieser Schweizer hilft Kinderquäl-Sekte

Also of interest, a new German-language blog has begun to combat the influence of Agrippino Rovetto here.

I did want to re-share information that Green Party in the Bavarian Parliament is pushing for. I'm uncertain if I have shared this information before, but it is just as pertinent now as proceedings have begun as it was when these were presented in the Bavarian Parliament last year and again this Spring. [PDF]

Meanwhile, the Donau-Ries Aktuell has published texts on the internet that are various important beliefs of the Twelve Tribes. The editorial staff, as reported by Ronau-Ries-Media GmbH, has published several hundred pages of the English-language texts. They received the texts from a former sect member. The texts are from the founder Elbert Eugene Spriggs, founder of the Twelve Tribes. Found in the documents are several clearly racist, anti-semitic and homophobic remarks. Yesterday, the editors also submitted a summory of a conversation with three cult members from Klosterzimmern who are described as "Open and friendly men" who explicitly warn against misinterpreting the texts...Originally published December 2013, „Staatsregierung blind für eigene Fehler“

If you are visiting my site from Germany, there is a German-language site available to learn what you can do to support child protection and learn how to better raise your children. Also of interest to my German-language readers is the UNICEF.de review of the documentary film „Wer seine Kinder liebt, der züchtigt sie“ by Erika Fehse which was aired on Monday, 7.4.2014 on ARD; and this site that questions you whether or not you know the signs of being in a cult.You can also find information on the Twelve Tribes from the English-language Site YATT.

*DoNotLink
allows one to view a website without actually driving traffic there or
allow the bloggers to gain readership or revenue.

05 October 2014

If you are unfamiliar with Lev Tahor, you may want to start with part 1, part 2 and part 3; where I previously blogged about the community and their ongoing hearings in Canadian courts.

For now it seems that the Lev Tahor taken a page out of the Twelve Tribes' book and two of their girls are missing from foster care and have been seen in Brooklyn, New York in the care of their father. There are questions as to custody, and due to the girls only speaking Yiddish, they must have been assisted in leaving the country, arranging transportation and arriving in their father's care.

Those in Lev Tahor who suddenly left Canada seeking refuge in Guatamala, are now being driven from their homes. No news as of yet if they've found another home or where they will be going from here.

Please know that the news articles are not being shared to gloat or somehow goad on the members of the sect, but to collect the news together where everyone can see what is happening. Feel free to add any additional news articles in the comments if I missed something.

Here are the latest updates:

“Most of the town wants them to leave,” said Vice Mayor Domingo Gusman Ujpan as he rattled off a list of problems the group has brought to the overwhelmingly Mayan — and Christian — town. He said that Lev Tahor women scold their local counterparts for not having more children, as they say God commands, and that members do not contribute to the local economy because they do not work. He also alleged that group members often fail to pay taxi drivers and landlords.

The Lev Tahor community packed its bags on Friday in San Juan la Laguna around 150km west of Guatemala City, to board buses bound for the capital after weeks of friction with sections of the local population.

The town's Elders Council voted last week to force the group to leave because they say some members of the sect have mistreated indigenous residents and tourists in the area, the AP news agency reported. Verbal abuse, threats to cut off power and eject them by force were, say the Jews, the last straw for the group who began arriving in March from Canada, where the Lev Tahor group's strict religious ways had clashed with authorities.August 30 - Al Jazeera Jews expelled from Guatemala village

Lev Tahor had maintained a small presence in San Juan La Laguna, a village about 90 miles west of Guatemala City, for about six years, but it expanded considerably in March after a contingent arrived complaining of persecution by Canadian authorities.

...“We will remain in Guatemala because the seed is fertile and it has to germinate,” Rabbi Uriel Goldman said in the lobby of the building he now calls home.....Speaking with a calm voice, Goldman said he and his people have no hard feelings toward the council of indigenous elders and municipal officials who expelled them from the village. But they do not want to go back.September 7 - The Times of Israel - Extremist Jewish sect seeks new home in Guatemala

Lev Tahor’s alleged behavioral norms are an affront to the rule of law and human rights. Although the cult was apparently expelled from the village in Guatemala due to anti-Semitism, its members fled both the Canadian and the Israeli authorities to evade prosecution.

And yet for all of its alleged moral depravity and criminal behavior, that fact is that Lev Tahor’s treatment of its girls is certainly no worse, and in many respects better, than the treatment that Islamic societies mete out on their girls and women. And the sad truth is that for hundreds of thousands of Muslim women and girls in the West, their residency in human rights-protecting societies has failed to protect them.Breaking Israel News - The Dilemma of the Jewish Leftist

...Adam Brudzewsky... fled in 2012 with the help of a local Orthodox rabbi, along with his pregnant wife, after he questioned edicts of the group’s leader, Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans, who reportedly runs Lev Tahor with iron discipline....Documents say Brudzewsky told police he was instructed to hit children to enforce discipline... forced to fabricate false documents for the Ministry of Education... [and] that during the prayers at the synagogue in Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, people were locked in the building ... the doors were locked with a key so that no one was able to leave,” police wrote in the documents.September 10 - The Star - Lev Tahor: Court documents reveal a glimpse inside the troubled Jewish sect

According to the Sûreté’s affidavit in support of the search warrant request, the police suspected that Lev Tahor members falsified documents, including passports, birth certificates and marriage licenses.

Rabbi Uriel Goldman, one of Lev Tahor's leaders, insisted that his group, so strict that it refuses to recognise Israel - which it declares has no spiritual validity - had been on friendly terms with most locals in San Juan La Laguna. But one of the village elders, Miguel Vázquez Cholotio, said: "We felt intimidated by them in the streets. We thought they wanted to change our religion and customs."

George Berger — an advocate for the family of the girls in Israel — said he visited them in their foster family back in April. Berger, a Toronto resident, accompanied their grandmother when she visited them on her trip to Toronto from Israel. The family in Israel had wanted to adopt the girls and their six siblings.

Just days before members of the radical Jewish group Lev Tahor fled Quebec for Ontario, child protection authorities received a list containing the names of underaged girls in the community said to have given birth to children fathered by much older men.

Documents from a Sûreté du Québec investigation into the ultra-orthodox Jewish sect Lev Tahor contain an allegation that a 14-year-old married girl was “bought.”Parts of the affidavit ... dated Nov. 18, 2013 are redacted. And that includes the portion of text immediately following the allegation about the married girl. It says she had been “bought by a” and the rest of the sentence is blacked out. The identity of who married the girl also isn’t revealed.The police documents also allege kidnapping of children under the age of 14 from the Lev Tahor community, human trafficking and use of a computer to produce false documents...September 27 - The Gazette - Court documents suggest 14-year-old bride was “bought”